Should you pursue your passion?

I recently uploaded a couple of cover song videos on my YouTube channel. Just me with an acoustic guitar, playing and singing some of my favorite tunes. I didn’t upload them for my audience.

I did it for me.

Now, I’m thrilled that there’s been such a positive response to the videos, but let’s be honest, folks didn’t subscribe to my channel for that. There’s 12,000 people following my YouTube channel, and almost all of them signed up for my series of audio and video tutorials and reviews, and maybe a bit of inspiration along the way.

So why did I upload these videos?

Passion vs Profession

I’ve never made a living playing music. Sure, a few folks have purchased my albums on iTunes over the years, and I’ve certainly enjoyed a few cups of coffee from the profits, but it’s really not worth bragging about.

Music is what sets my soul on fire.

The reason I’ve never tried to make a living with music is because I love it too much. Something happens when you turn your passion into a profession. It changes from something you get to do into something you have to do.

I consider myself extremely lucky that I made a comfortable living as a magician for so many years, but it undoubtedly changed my relationship with the art of magic. I grew up loving magic, truly and sincerely. It was all-consuming. But when I decided to make a living with it, magic became something that I had to do.

Unless I did card tricks, I didn’t eat.

How do you get people to pay you for card tricks? You learn marketing. Sales. Networking. Cold calling. You learn the basics of graphic design and video editing to save money on promotional materials. You spend mornings compiling lists of local restaurants who might be interested in having a magician, afternoons getting rejected by busy owners, and only occasionally do a gig.

Gigs were the best. They were the only time I got to properly engage with my art.

The Grind

But before I knew it, gigs became a nuisance. There was always more marketing, more promotion, more calls, more emails, more design, more prep, more scheduling, more organizing to be done.

“Oh crap, I have a gig tonight? Ugh. When am I going to get all this work done?”

Suddenly the very thing you loved, that you gave up grad school and career options to do, is the very thing standing in your way.

My relationship with magic had plummeted. I didn’t want to think about it, let alone do it anymore. Magic didn’t put food on the table; running a business did.

And I didn’t get into this to run a business.

Rediscovering Passion

Since making a career pivot into professional speaking, consulting, writing, and podcasting, I rediscovered my love of magic.

I’m curious about new tricks again, and eager to explore new ideas. I actually enjoy watching magic and talking with other magicians, like the early days.

What changed?

I don’t have to do magic anymore, but I get to do it whenever I want. Occasionally I have the honor of getting paid to do it. These days, however, I’m rather picky about which gigs I accept. I’m only willing to put myself in an ideal situation. Sometimes that means donating my time to a worthwhile cause or organization, and sometimes that means a high end event willing to offer me world-class accommodations.

You might be wondering why I haven’t lost my passion for speaking? It’s a good question with a simple answer: I never set out to be a professional speaker. That happened naturally as a result of circumstances, luck, and opportunity.

Speaking, writing, consulting, running a podcast – none of these things are requirements. My passion is spreading a message of human connection, and I’ll do it in any medium or avenue that makes sense.

What should you do?

No one but you can decide whether you should pursue your passion for a profession. What I’m hoping you’ll take away from this article is that all pursuits require a sacrifice, particularly when you try to monetize your art.

For example, my podcast operates at a loss right now. I’ve made no attempt to secure sponsorships or ad revenue because I know where that path leads. Once you bring money into the equation you start making decisions about your art based on what will lead to more sponsors, more ad revenue, and more profit in general.

Those decisions will never be the same as when you make art simply for the love of it. And right now I’m making a podcast because I care deeply about the people and ideas that are featured. I have no interest in sacrificing that.

Things may change down the road, but for now, I’ve drawn a line in the sand.

The question is, if you love drawing, should you try to become a professional artist? Well, that all depends on how much you’re willing to compromise the purity of your artistic vision in exchange for a paycheck, and how well you can compartmentalize the job part from the art itself. I was bad at it. Maybe you won’t be.

Big Dreams and Giant Food

For a shining example of what it takes to make it doing something you love, check out this week’s episode of my podcast One New Person, with guests celebrity YouTubers JP & Julia of HellthyJunkFood.

We discussed how to build and leverage a brand in the digital world, how to get the most out of industry events and conventions, and of course JP & Julia share their brand’s story of a chance encounter with lasting impact.